The present invention relates to a mechanism for centering a wheel hub when it is mounted on the brake drum of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a centering arrangement for a wheel hub wherein the centering arrangement includes at least three centering pins which align with the brake drum. The wheel rim includes a waveshaped spoke portion and the centering pins are disposed in the undulations of the spoke portion.
Centering arrangement of this kind may be classified into the field of lightweight machinings. An example of such a lightweight machining is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,637, which was co-invented by the present inventor and is assigned to the present assignee. U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,637, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a vehicle wheel of the type that carries a tubed tire. The vehicle wheel of this patent includes a wheel body, a tire hub which has a plurality of segmental wheel parts, and means for safely retaining the tube tire on the tire rim.
In Swiss Patent Application No. 4476/83-7, a centering arrangement for a vehicle wheel is disclosed wherein individual centering pins are provided on the wheel hub. These individual centering pins are separated from each other on the perimeter of the wheel hub. The use of such individual centering pins helps prevent the formation of shrink holes in the wheel hub. Their use also results in a reduction in weight of the wheel hub.
However, the centering arrangement described in Swiss Patent Application No. 4476/83-7 suffers from the deficiency that there is a loss in strength or sturdiness in the regions of the centering pins. Thus, there is a tendency of such wheel hubs to fail when the vehicle is in operative use.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a centering arrangement for a wheel hub of a vehicle utilizing individual centering pins wherein the strength of the wheel hub is not reduced and the wheel hub is not subject to failure during operative use of the vehicle.